Chapter 4 - The Secret Behind the Lullaby
Gabriel ordered the penthouse sealed.
No one entered without clearance. No one left without being searched.
The doctors remained, the nurses remained, and Claire remained because Lily refused to let go of her hand.
By evening, every television in the penthouse had been turned off. Every window shade was drawn. The guards moved with sharper purpose.
The house no longer felt like a home.
It felt like a fortress preparing for war.
Claire sat beside Lily’s bed, reading a picture book about a rabbit who was afraid of thunderstorms. Lily listened quietly, her head resting against Claire’s arm.
Gabriel stood near the doorway.
He had been there for almost ten minutes without speaking.
Finally, he said, “May I come in?”
Lily’s fingers tightened.
Claire looked at her. “You can decide.”
Lily stared at Gabriel.
Then, after a long moment, she gave a tiny nod.
Gabriel entered slowly.
He did not approach the bed.
Instead, he sat on the floor several feet away.
Claire saw surprise on Lily’s face.
Probably because men like Gabriel Varrick did not sit on floors.
Not in tailored suits. Not in rooms where everyone feared them.
But he did.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Lily blinked.
Gabriel looked down at his hands.
“I’m sorry I yelled. I’m sorry I scared you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mommy called you,” she whispered.
Gabriel froze.
“What?”
“She called,” Lily said. “In the car. She said, ‘Gabriel, please.’ But you didn’t answer.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
The grief in him seemed to crack open.
“I was in a meeting,” he said, his voice breaking. “My phone was off.”
Lily looked at him with the brutal honesty only children possessed.
“Why?”
No man in New York could have asked Gabriel Varrick that question without fear.
But Lily did.
And Gabriel had no answer.
“I was wrong,” he said finally. “I should have answered.”
Lily turned her face into Claire’s side.
Gabriel did not move.
After a moment, Claire began humming again.
The familiar lullaby softened the room.
*Hush now, little sparrow,
Night is not forever…*
Lily hummed with her.
Then, unexpectedly, she sang the next line.
*Close your eyes, my darling,
I will keep you safe…*
Claire stopped.
That was not part of the version her mother had taught her.
Gabriel looked up sharply.
“Who taught you that part?” he asked, much gentler this time.
Lily frowned as if trying to remember.
“Mommy sang it,” she said. “But the red lady sang it too.”
Claire’s heart beat faster.
“She sang the same song?”
Lily nodded.
“The red lady said Mommy taught her.”
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
Sofia Varrick had trusted Celia Ward enough to teach her Lily’s bedtime song.
Celia had used that trust to get close to the child after the attack.
Claire understood it now.
The lullaby had not calmed Lily because it was magic.
It had unlocked a memory.
A dangerous one.
“Lily,” Claire said softly, “you don’t have to tell us everything. But can you tell me where the red lady was when she sang to you?”
Lily’s breathing changed.
Claire immediately regretted asking.
But Lily looked toward the far wall.
“In the dark room.”
“What dark room?”
“The one with the boats.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
“The marina warehouse?” he asked.
Lily squeezed her eyes shut.
“There was a lot of water. And metal noises. And the red lady said not to cry because Mr. Rusk didn’t like crying.”
Claire felt cold all over.
Gabriel rose slowly to his feet.
His face became unreadable, but the room seemed to change around him.
“Lily was taken,” he said.
Mara, who had been standing quietly near the door, gasped.
“What do you mean?” Claire asked.
Gabriel stared at his daughter.
“The attack happened on the FDR Drive. I got her out of the vehicle. I thought I carried her directly to the second car.”
He looked sick.
“There was chaos. Smoke. Gunfire. My men were moving everyone. I thought she was with Sofia’s sister.”
“But she wasn’t?” Claire asked.
Gabriel’s jaw flexed.
“No.”
Lily whispered, “The red lady carried me.”
Claire understood.
During the attack, Celia had taken Lily.
Not for long.
Long enough to bring her to Antonio Rusk.
Long enough for the enemy to see Gabriel Varrick’s child.
Long enough to frighten Lily into silence.
“Did Mr. Rusk hurt you?” Claire asked gently.
Lily shook her head.
“He looked at me.”
The words were worse somehow.
“What did he say?” Gabriel asked.
Lily’s eyes filled again.
“He said he could take anything from you.”
Gabriel turned away.
His shoulders went rigid.
Claire watched him struggle to contain something violent and terrible.
But then Lily reached toward him.
“Daddy?”
Gabriel came back to her immediately.
She looked at him through tears.
“Mommy said you would keep me safe.”
Gabriel knelt beside the bed.
This time, Lily did not pull away when he took her hand.
“I will,” he said. “I swear to you, I will.”
Claire believed that he meant it.
But she also knew promises did not erase danger.
And somewhere in New York, Celia Ward was still free.
That night, just after midnight, Claire woke to a sound outside her guest-suite door.
A soft scrape.
Then another.
She held her breath.
May you like
The door handle slowly began to turn.
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